July 2019: ESOL and Digital Skills

100% Digital Leeds understand many of the barriers to digital inclusion that ESOL learners face; in addition to the language barrier there are often many other obstacles to successful integration. We are aware that this is a problem for all organisations who work to digitally upskill ESOL learners, and invited 15 Leeds organisations who support ESOL learners to come together and try to find a solution.

Migration and ESOL work in Leeds

We were joined by Samantha Powell, Leeds City Council’s ESOL Strategy Manager and Migrant Access Project Lead, who gave an overview of migration and ESOL works across the city, and introduced us to the Leeds Migration Map.

Discovery with Three

We were joined by Alan Parker from Discovery with Three, who shared some of the practical approaches he has developed to support the digital inclusion of ESOL and other learners in cities across the UK.

‘Train the trainer’ test and learn

Following a group discussion we are inviting Community Leaders to take part in a test and learn session aiming to upskill staff and volunteers from organisations wanting to run digital skills sessions for ESOL learners.

Community Leaders (staff, volunteers, tutors working with organisations supporting ESOL learners) will take part in a ‘train the trainer session’ and are asked to invite one or two learners to take part in a learning session co-delivered with Discovery with Three. Community Leaders will be asked to give feedback on Discovery with Three’s approach and the suitability for their organisation.

Plan for the day

9.30 – 12:30 ‘Train the trainer’ for Community Leaders, delivered by Discovery with Three

Discovery with Three will run a 2 hour ‘train the trainer’ workshop for Community Leaders who would like to deliver basic digital skills sessions with groups of ESOL learners. The session will focus on foundation and essential digital skills such as password safety, saving and finding documents, and use of Voice Assistant. Discover with Three will introduce Community Leaders to resources that they will be able to use for future delivery of basic digital skills sessions with their learners.

12:30 – 13:30 Lunch (provided)

13:30 – 13:30 Basic digital skills session for learners, co-delivered by Discovery with Three and Community Leaders

Community Leaders will use the learning from the morning workshop to co-deliver a learning session for learners invited from their organisation. They will be asked to give feedback on Discovery with Three’s approach and the suitability for their organisation.